Bundesliga

Relegation worries are growing for ASC Grünwettersbach. On Saturday night, the Karlsruhe side threw away a 2:0 lead for the second time within a week and lost 2:3 to TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell on Matchday 17 of the Table Tennis Bundesliga (TTBL). After a ninth straight defeat, ASC coach Kilian Ort did not hold back.

Even if the script read like Tuesday’s 2:3 loss at record champions Borussia Düsseldorf, Ort felt the two performances could hardly have been more different. “On Tuesday we produced a good performance and lost narrowly to a slightly better team,” he recalled of the match at the ARAG Centercourt. Against Fulda, however, Saturday’s display was “significantly weaker as a team”, said the 29-year-old — “including in the singles we won”. It was Grünwettersbach’s second squandered 2:0 lead in five days, and their ninth defeat in a row.

For Ort, the crisis has narrowed the focus. “Now it’s only about finishing second-bottom,” the coach said. “It’s basically only between Grenzau and us. Bad Königshofen, with Basti, Xue Fei and the other very good guys, look stable enough at the moment to stay up.” On Saturday night, Grünwettersbach slipped to the bottom of the table — though a defeat for Grenzau would lift ASC back to ninth.

Grünwettersbach’s doubles issues persist

Over the nine-match losing streak, ASC have been beaten in the deciding doubles four times. “We just don’t win doubles. Somehow none of them falls our way,” Ort said in frustration. On Saturday, Ricardo Walther and Tiago Apolonia were meant to spark the turnaround. Instead, the ASC pair lost in three sets to Fanbo Meng and Jonathan Groth — and even let a 6:0 lead slip away in the second game. “In the doubles I thought we were behind, but they played very solidly and very well,” said Fulda’s number one Ruwen Filus.

Earlier, Hiroto Shinozuka (3:0 against Meng) and Apolonia (3:1 against Filus) had put the match firmly in the hosts’ hands. After the break, Groth ignited Fulda’s comeback with a 3:1 win over Tom Jarvis, who has been short of confidence lately. Filus then forced the match into the doubles by edging Shinozuka in five sets in the headline singles.

Fulda can, for the time being, distance themselves from serious relegation concerns: with 14 points, the TTC sit eighth and hold a six-point cushion over the relegation places. Grünwettersbach still need points to secure safety — and Ort knows it will be anything but straightforward. “Our remaining programme is very, very tough. Grenzau’s is more manageable — even though every team in the league has quality.”

Matchday 17 overview

ASC Grünwettersbach – TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell 2:3
Hiroto Shinozuka – Fanbo Meng 3:0 (11:9, 11:4, 11:7)
Tiago Apolonia – Ruwen Filus 3:1 (11:6, 12:14, 11:6, 13:11)
Tom Jarvis – Jonathan Groth 1:3 (8:11, 9:11, 11:4, 5:11)
Hiroto Shinozuka – Ruwen Filus 2:3 (11:7, 7:11, 7:11, 11:5, 7:11)
Walther/Apolonia – Meng/Groth 0:3 (7:11, 9:11, 7:11)

TTC Schwalbe Bergneustadt – SV Werder Bremen 3:2
Benedikt Duda – Irvin Bertrand 3:1 (11:8, 8:11, 11:3, 11:8)
Adrien Rassenfosse – Mattias Falck 1:3 (11:8, 10:12, 11:13, 7:11)
Leo de Nodrest – Kirill Gerassimenko 1:3 (6:11, 11:8, 5:11, 6:11)
Benedikt Duda – Mattias Falck 3:1 (13:15, 23:21, 11:9, 11:5)
de Nodrest/Rassenfosse – Gerassimenko/Bertrand 3:0 (11:7, 11:8, 11:9)

Sunday, 15 February:
13:00: Borussia Düsseldorf – 1. FC Saarbrücken-TT
15:30: TSV Bad Königshofen – TTF Liebherr Ochsenhausen
17:00: Post SV Mühlhausen – TTC Zugbrücke Grenzau

Monday, 16 February:
19:00: TTC OE Clarity-Telefonie Systeme Bad Homburg – Borussia Dortmund

Picture: Jonathan Groth of TTC RhönSprudel Fulda-Maberzell (Photo: Tomafocus)